PEP GUARDIOLA expects Benjamin Mendy and Aymeric Laporte to remain on the sidelines for at least another week.
Manchester City have not been able to name their first-choice defence this season with the French pair unavailable on the weekend.
Aymeric Laporte could return for Manchester City within a weekCredit: AFP
Benjamin Mendy is set for a longer spell on the sidelinesCredit: Getty Images – Getty
Neither player made the squad that beat Arsenal 1-0, with Guardiola confirming how long they will remain out.
He said post-game: “Mendy will be three or four weeks.
“Laporte we expect back sooner.
“I don’t know how long. Maybe one week to ten days.”
A muscle injury sidelined Laporte, 26, after he had already missed the first weekend of the season with coronavirus.
After being named on the bench for the defeat to Leicester, he featured in the Carabao Cup win over Burnley and Premier League draw at Leeds.
But he will now miss Wednesday’s match against Porto with the following trip to West Ham in doubt.
Likewise, Mendy is set to be absent for those matches as well as games with Marseille, Sheffield United, Olympiacos and Liverpool.
The left-back, 26, had started all of City’s five matches before a muscle problem kept him out of the win over Arsenal.
Also unavailable for Guardiola on Saturday were Gabriel Jesus, Kevin De Bruyne and Oleksandr Zinchenko.
The City manager admitted after the victory, sealed with a Raheem Sterling goal, that his side initially struggled to settle against the Gunners.
He added: “Gabriel has a quad injury in front of his leg and I think we will have to be calm and cautious. He is still not on the field training.
“We struggled a lot in the beginning, for the lack of preparation and amount of absences but even with that we are still alive.”
Pep Guardiola says the desire to win against a team like Arsenal was impressive in post-match press conference
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
